Watch the tide
Using your outboard
Towing the tender
Tender: It serves as shore shuttle and wastebasket, and by filling up with water and sinking, it provides a crude measurement of recent rainfall.

Every bareboat departing on a bareboat yacht charter is chartered with a boat tender and 5-6 hp outboard motor... Most aluminium bare boat tenders come fitted with inbuilt buoyancy, but more commonly your boat tender will be a rubber inflatable.

The benefits of buoyancy are:

• Your boat tender will stay afloat if
  capsized or swamped
• Provides the opportunity to bail
  water out of the boat

Your boat tender and outboard motor are a very important part of any sailing holiday. With them you have the opportunity to explore the various inlets, beaches and deserted coves, and because of its stability, it is an ideal fishing platform to get you in close to the coral ledges where all the reef fish are lurking. Therefore, treat your boat tender and outboard motor with great care and respect.

Watch the tide

Lost boat tenders or dunked outboard motors can become a very expensive exercise. Check your tender security often when cruising... on sailing holidays in the Whitsunday Islands allow for the large tidal variation (up to 4.0 metres) if you need to leave your boat tender on the beach... Neglecting the tidal situation is the biggest single cause of lost boat tenders and much unhappiness, particularly if you are forced to pull your tender over 100 metres of sand or mud flats at low tide. Be aware of the incoming tide and anchor your tender...even when on the beach.

• Make sure you have paddles or oars. Your tender may be powered by an outboard motor. But make sure that you have some alternative means of propulsion - just in case!
  
• Stop that banging boat: Tenders have a habit of banging against the hull as the wind shifts in the anchorage. If you tie your boat tender alongside, consider padding the hull with a fender or two so that you can sleep through the night.
  
• Tie boat tenders securely: Whether you're towing your tender behind the boat or leaving it high and dry on a beach while you do some exploring, make sure that it's tied up well. On a beach, always secure the tender above the highest possible level that the tide and waves can reach.
  
• Tow a boat tender safely: If you pull your tender behind you from place to place, make certain everything is secured (oars, fuel tank, engine, and so on) before you get underway. Also, when backing or manoeuvring in close quarters, bring the tender close alongside so that you don't motor over the painter (tow rope).
  
• Only let crew operate the tender who are familiar with the operation of outboard motors.
  
• Don't take your tender out of sight of your charter boat.
  
• Report a lost bare boat tender to base immediately and note location, time and state of wind and tides etc.
  
• Never operate outboard motors closer than twenty feet from a beach...or it is obvious you are going into shallow water or over coral... often there is a shear pin in the propeller shaft that will fail if the propeller strikes an obstruction. 'Extract 100 magic miles'

Never plan a trip in your tender or operate an outboard motor after drinking alcohol... recognise that approximately 50% of all boating fatalities involve intoxication.

It is sensible to take life jackets aboard your bareboat tender when it is used...but at a minimum, children and non-swimmers should always wear life jackets.

Petrol is highly flammable, and its vapours are flammable and explosive... don't smoke and operate an outboard motor at the same time... Make sure there are no petrol fumes or leaking fuel lines before you start the outboard motors.

Using your outboard motor on motor & sailing yacht charters

To Start your outboard:

1. Loosen the fuel tank 'breather' cap, just enough to allow air into the fuel tank. Remember to re-tighten this breather cap when the outboard is stopped.
   
2. Pressurise the fuel line
3. If the motor is warm, open throttle slightly, if motor is cold, turn throttle handle to start position.
4. Pull on choke.
   
5. Check gear shift lever is in neutral position before starting. (Most modern outboard motors cannot be started unless the gear shift lever is in neutral).
   
6. Hold the top of the cowl covering the outboard motor firmly with one hand while pulling on the starter handle with the other. Finish pull with strong/fast stroke to start motor.
   
7. If choke has been used to assist with start, then push choke off immediately...if this is not done you can flood the motor.
   

To Stop your outboard:

1. Push red stop button
   
2. Close breather on top of fuel tank filler cap

If your outboard motor takes a bath

If the outboard should accidentally be immersed in salt water during your bareboat charter, it is extremely important your bareboat charter operator be notified immediately so the motor can be completely flushed out and remedial action taken. To check out what to do if your outboard takes a swim :
Refer to First aid for dunked outboard engines

Towing and using your bare boat tender

When towing the tender make sure the outboard motor is tilted up to reduce drag - and tow at the full length of the painter.

Do not overload boat tenders... What may initially seem 'OK' while you are holding onto the stern platform of your bareboat, can very quickly develop into a wet or even tragic accident once underway.

The maximum 'safe' carrying capacity of the tender on your bareboat is shown on its compliance plate. Common sense is the guiding influence. A capsize or swamping through overload will mean... wet people, loss of personal equipment and often a drowned outboard motor.

The best position to board a boat tender is from the stern platform of your bareboat, not from the water. If one party holds the tender, side on against the stern platform, the rest of the party should board one at a time... However if you must climb back into your bareboats tender from the water come in over the stern next to the outboard motor.

Important: Do not release the tender from your bareboat until the outboard motor has been started...and be careful not to put fingers, arm or legs between the tender and vessel.

Manoeuvring your bareboat while towing a tender

Always remember, while manoeuvring that your boat tender is attached and under tow. Unless you take precautions when manoeuvring you will probably come into contact with the tender and there is a high risk of the tender painter fouling the propeller... or the boat tender being caught under the duckboard (if reversing) and the outboard motor submerged.

• Bring your bare boat tender up short, but not that short it will jam 'crossways' across the stern if reversing. Tie off the painter to one of the stern cleats on your vessel making sure the loose end is out of the water and properly secured.
  
  
• Appoint one crew member to be responsible for the tender during your bareboat charter when anchoring or mooring.

If you are on a yacht charter in the Whitsunday Islands, remember the tidal range. If you anchor the tender do not leave it unattended unless you are sure the boat anchor is secure.

When beaching the tender take care you are not caught by the tide going out and leaving you and the tender stranded 100 metres away from the water.

Tidal movement can be particularly critical if you tie up to a jetty... incorrect securing of your boat tender could result in it being 'hung up' as the tide recedes or totally immersed as the tide rises.

Outboard motor drives and propellers

Drives and propellers are usually broken or damaged because of poor judgement about water depth...Your first indication of this problem is your outboard motor will high rev without apparent gear engagement. The simplest way to avoid this problem is to never operate the outboard in shallow water.

Important: When approaching shallow water, always tilt the outboard before the bottom does it for you. It is good advice to either wade, or row ashore that extra 30-50 metres, to avoid damaging the outboard...but remember to watch the tide.